The Great Commission in an age of disaffiliation

I recently overheard a conversation between two Catholics about evangelization. They seemed unequivocally against it, at least in its more typical form of intentionally sharing the Gospel with non-Christians. To them, in this age of human rights, active evangelization necessarily means the compromise of another person’s religious freedom. To promote one’s own religion, to them, is to degrade someone else’s notions of the numinous.

The discomfort modern Catholics stereotypically feel with the practice of evangelization can make this an awkward time of the liturgical year, this time of Ascension and Pentecost, when Jesus gives the Great Commission, that “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:47) It’s true that, on the surface, we Catholics don’t seem to have much in common with the missionary branches of Christianity, like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose dogged evangelization efforts relate closely to their belief that the end times are now, lending an effective urgency to Christ’s command to go out in his name to all the world.

But we Catholics have more in common with our Mormon and JW friends than we’d like to admit, for we too believe Christ’s return is imminent. No one who reads and reveres the New Testament can miss the looming shadow of the parousia hovering around the text, just out of sight. And while Catholics are not as likely as Mormons to have an organized system of emergency food and supplies in our basements in anticipation of Christ’s return, we are indeed tasked with honoring the same Gospel command to share Christ’s message with all the world, while there’s still time. We might find this command distasteful, but that doesn’t make it go away.

But the execution of the command need not spell intolerance or religious imperialism, as some may fear. We need not don shirt sleeves and messenger bags and start knocking on doors to fulfill the Great Commission either. Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that the Church is in a marked state of contraction, with hordes of youth and young adults choosing not to associate religiously at all. This disaffiliation trend currently affects Christianity as a whole, and other world religions as well, in many countries around the globe. Disaffiliation figures are startling and disheartening (read about them here and here), particularly for those of us looking out from inside the Church, as from the portholes of a ship which, even if it isn’t sinking, has just been abandoned by a critical portion of her crew.

Evangelization in this age of religious disaffiliation no longer just means winning souls for Christ; it means winning them back. And sadly, studies show the person and message of Jesus Christ has very little to do with why young people leave the Church. In a 2018 study published under the title Going, Going, Gone, St. Mary’s Press Research, in collaboration with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), studied the reasons for this mass exodus, looking for repetitive units of meaning in approximately 800-1000 interviews with disaffiliated young adults. Bob McCarty, one of the study’s directors, said the goal of the study was to stop talking about disaffiliated young adults and start talking to them – and more importantly, to listen. “When you listen, you find out insights like this: Young people are not angry with the Church, they just can’t find a use for it in their lives,” said McCarty in a presentation for the National Pastoral Musicians Association annual conference in July 2018.

St. Mary’s study found that precipitating life events such as death or divorce cause some young people to enter periods of doubt, periods they never leave if Church representatives are not equipped to handle difficult questions with pastoral skill. What is the Church for, if it doesn’t bring comfort and compassion in life’s most difficult moments? The secularization of culture also formed a theme in these young adults’ stories; many reported experiencing feelings of relief and increased freedom upon leaving the Church, categorizing religious affiliation as merely one of many voluntary associations in their lives, to take or leave. Such factors formed threads of meaning in the study, weaving these young adults’ stories together. But to me, the most disturbing factor in disaffiliation named by McCarty was that although many young people are open to rational arguments for faith, they have yet to meet credible witnesses for that faith. Let me put that another way: they don’t have a problem with Christianity, but they don’t see anybody actually living it.

This Lent, at my diocesan Rite of Election (the service in which those joining the Church at Easter enter their final stage of preparation), the Bishop asked those becoming Catholic to stand if a book they read had convinced them to join the Church. Of the hundreds gathered, a small handful of people stood. Then he asked if a film or television series had done it, or perhaps a direct message from God or the angels. A few more stood. Finally, he asked if the witness of a faithful Catholic in their lives had convinced them of the worthiness of belonging to this community of faith. At this final prompting, every remaining candidate and catechumen stood.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

(John 20:21)

As the Father sends us, so Christ sends us forth to witness. This correlation is key, and it is the secret to being credible witnesses to the faith in this age of religious disaffiliation. How do we witness to Christ? Do we lead with love, with humility, with obedience to God’s ways over those of the world? Do we welcome strangers, hang out with sinners and question authority figures (especially those who seem to relish their superior positions)? Do we love and serve the poor with a special preference? Do we teach others not to judge, but to pray with a pure heart? Do we speak the truth in all situations, even when it will mean our figurative (even literal!) death?

For some, the Great Commission is an uncomfortable command. But Jesus does indeed send us forth to all nations to share his Gospel message. This does not mean Bible-thumping, fire-and-brimstone evangelism, nor does it mean putting forth some triumphalist version of Catholicism that recalls the gate-keeping elitism of the Pharisees. It does not necessitate or even afford intolerance of any kind. It simply means being credible witnesses to the faith to all we encounter.

The feast of Pentecost follows on the heels of the Ascension, and for good reason. To fulfill the Great Commission, to become credible witnesses to the Gospel, to be sent by the Father as he sent his Son, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. “Come, Holy Spirit,” the Gospel verse for Pentecost implores, “fill the hearts of your faithful/and kindle in them the fire of your love.” For it is love which Christ asks us to bring to all nations: his endless, self-less, liberating and redeeming love.